The forming and applying of asphaltic pavement and particularly as it relates to highway and roadway surfaces, is an industry of considerable magnitude and importance. Asphaltic pavement in the course of continuous usage becomes oxidized, dry and brittle and frequently develops rolls or undulating surfaces and also develops holes which require repair or a complete replacement of segments of the pavement. The most satisfactory asphaltic pavement highway is of course a new mat because of the smoothness, uniformity and continuity thereof. Some of the prior known repair or reconditioning practices involve the softening of the upper layer and reworking thereof, in situ, followed by a rolling of the material into a substantially smoother condition. This practice is discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,952,452 and 3,005,280. Another approach has been to remove substantially all of the asphaltic pavement from the ground surface or substrate and transport it to a remote reconditioning mill, recondition same, and return it to the roadworking machinery, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,941, and this practice of course requires considerable expense and time in the transportation of the old asphaltic material to and from the reconditioning mill.
Some attempt has been made to recondition the old, oxidized asphaltic pavement by completely removing at least a layer from the ground surface, adding a reconditioner thereto, and then reapplying this material in a new mat during continuous vehicular movement, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,941. Some of the difficulties encountered in this approach in an inability to penetrate, remove and break up enough of the old asphaltic pavement material with existing equipment and another is to restore the once used material to a satisfactory condition in which it may be readily applied during steady movement over a ground surface.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for treating asphaltic pavement material in which a considerable amount of old asphaltic pavement is reclaimed or reused to form a new mat, thereby providing a substantial savings in cost and a substantial conservation of resources.
Another object of the present invention is to provide novel apparatus and method for treating asphaltic pavement that is carried out by portable machinery during a steady movement over a ground surface.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus and method for treating old asphaltic pavement which includes the capability of removing asphaltic pavement down to substantial depths.
A further object of this invention is to provide reconditioning apparatus and method of treating old, oxidized asphaltic pavement including the complete removal of asphaltic pavement from the ground surface and the heating of the removed, loose, aggregate-asphaltic material to a temperature suitable for being reapplied as a new mat without requiring a direct flame on the asphalt.